prestigious
Americanadjective
-
indicative of or conferring prestige.
the most prestigious address in town.
- Synonyms:
- distinguished
-
having a high reputation; honored; esteemed.
a prestigious author.
- Synonyms:
- notable, illustrious
adjective
-
having status or glamour; impressive or influential
-
rare characterized by or using deceit, cunning, or illusion; fraudulent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prestigious
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin praestigiōsus “full of tricks, deceitful,” from praestigi(ae) “juggler's tricks” ( see prestige) + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Eagle Scout is a prestigious position within the Boy Scouts. It requires a lot of hard work over a number of years, and if you become one, lots of people will respect you. The adjective prestigious has a really wonderful Latin root, praestigiae, which means "conjuring tricks." Think of the magic word, "Presto!" Even though today's prestigious doesn't necessarily mean that the person described can do magic, imagining prestigious people as magicians can help you remember the admiration and status that the word implies.
Vocabulary lists containing prestigious
The Hunger Games
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This Week in Words: October 22 - 27, 2017
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Stupnikov, a recent graduate from a prestigious military academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, had a secret.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday announced that Pillay, who once sat on the ICC, was this year's recipient of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Elon Musk and Elizabeth Holmes are unwitting film fest stars as documentaries about problematic tech titans have dominated news coming out of prestigious film festivals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Others labelled the perceived lack of justice a "disgrace" and said they felt ashamed of the prestigious university, which has defended its handling of the case.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
One of the first things he did was to ask the country’s most prestigious medical society, the College of Physicians, to assemble on that rainy Sunday, August 25.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
